title: Chloroplast leucyl-tRNA synthetase from Euglena gracilis. Purification, kinetic analysis, and structural characterization.
abstract: Euglena gracilis chloroplast leucyl-tRNA synthetase was purified to homogeneity by a series of steps including ammonium sulfate precipitation and chromatography on hydroxylapatite, DEAE-cellulose, Sepharose 6B, phosphocellulose, and Blue Dextran-Sepharose. The purified enzyme exhibits a specific activity of 1233 units/mg of protein, which is one of the highest specific activities obtained for an aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase prepared from plant cells. The enzyme has an apparent Km value of 8 x 10(-6) M for L-leucine, 1.3 x 10(-4) M for ATP, and 1.3 x 10(-6) M for tRNALeu. Chloroplast leucyl-tRNA synthetase appears to be a monomeric enzyme with a molecular weight of 100 000. The amino acid composition of chloroplast leucyl-tRNA synthetase has been determined. It is the first reported for a chloroplast aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase, and it reveals a relatively large proportion of apolar residues, as in the case of prokaryotic aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases.
mesh_terms: D000596:Amino Acids / Q000032:analysis; D000604:Amino Acyl-tRNA Synthetases / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D000818:Animals; D002736:Chloroplasts / Q000201:enzymology; D005056:Euglena gracilis / Q000201:enzymology*; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D007700:Kinetics; D007935:Leucine-tRNA Ligase / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D008274:Magnesium / Q000378:metabolism; D008970:Molecular Weight
chemical_list: D000596:Amino Acids; D000604:Amino Acyl-tRNA Synthetases; D007935:Leucine-tRNA Ligase; D008274:Magnesium